Free Republic

We've challenged PolitiFact to a live, recorded debate earlier today. The two parties are polar opposites: one defends the narrative and the other exposes the truth.Steve Kirsch21 hr ago The request from PolitiFact to remove the fact check recordingRecently, I got an email from PolitiFact’s Editor-in-Chief, Angie Holan, requesting I remove the recording of my conversation with their so-called “fact checker,” Gabrielle Settles who was doing a fact check on VAERS.I refused her request.Gabrielle asked if she could record the call and I consented, so that entitles all parties to record the call. PolitiFact did not deny that we both...

Abstract Discovered in the late-1970s, the pioneering drug ivermectin, a dihydro derivative of avermectin—originating solely from a single microorganism isolated at the Kitasato Intitute, Tokyo, Japan from Japanese soil—has had an immeasurably beneficial impact in improving the lives and welfare of billions of people throughout the world. Originally introduced as a veterinary drug, it kills a wide range of internal and external parasites in commercial livestock and companion animals. It was quickly discovered to be ideal in combating two of the world’s most devastating and disfiguring diseases which have plagued the world’s poor throughout the tropics for centuries. It is...

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) confirmed that it shut down nearly 40 businesses during its crackdown on Freedom Convoy protesters opposing COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. In an email to Global News on Feb. 23, Dakota Brasier, a spokesperson for Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney, said the ministry had issued 12 seizure orders to Ontario-based large truck operators which suspended them from being allowed to operate within Canada. The ministry also issued an order to seize all plates registered to them, Brasier said. Outside of Ontario, the ministry also issued 27 seizure orders to out-of-province large truck operators, which stopped...

Very frequently mission mistakes result from a lack of appreciation for, and even ignorance of, the culture in question. It may be that the greatest flaw today in missionary orientation for post-Soviet lands is not its brevity, although that is frequently a serious shortcoming. The greatest flaw may be inadequate to nonexistent country-specific and culture-specific preparation; that is, woefully insufficient study of pertinent languages, literature and history. Ministry training too often focuses on what might be called generic preparation...Greater attention to culture-specific orientation and training... would reap ample dividends in terms of less traumatic culture shock and greater longevity for...

The fight for $18? It’s on, say supporters of raising the minimum wage in California. California’s minimum wage rose in January to $15 an hour for employers with 26 or more employees, and $14 an hour for employers with 25 or fewer. Under a ballot initiative currently being circulated for signatures, the minimum wage would continue increasing by a dollar each year until it hit $18 an hour. Under the proposed initiative, the California governor would have the authority to suspend the annual increase up to two times, such as during periods of decreased economic activity or during a general...

Fake footage from Digital Combat Simulator fueled rumors of Ukrainian super pilot A clip of a Ukrainian fighter jet blowing up a suspected Russian aircraft started trending on social media yesterday. Many believed it was proof of the exploits of a mysterious and unverified ace pilot called the “Ghost of Kyiv.” It was actually fake footage from the 2013 PC game, Digital Combat Simulator: World. ...

Hope you enjoy "The Big Combo".IDMB info if interested.

Scientists released a pair of extensive studies on Saturday that point to a market in Wuhan, China, as the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. The two reports, totaling about 150 pages, have not yet been published in a scientific journal. The researchers analyzed data from a range of sources to look for clues to how the pandemic arose. They concluded that the coronavirus was present in live mammals sold in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in late 2019. The research suggests that the virus very likely twice spilled over into people working or shopping at the market. The researchers said...

Removing access to the financial messaging service would be the most severe penalty but could have unwanted consequences, including compromising energy exports to Europe. President Biden said on Thursday that the United States and Europe were united in their efforts to confront Russian aggression toward Ukraine with aggressive sanctions. However, there was one area where he suggested disagreement: SWIFT.

POTUS Trump speaks shortly!

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A forest pest that bedevils Maine residents and tourists with hairs that cause an itchy rash appears to be spreading due to warming temperatures, a group of scientists has found. The browntail moth is a scourge in America’s most forested state, where it defoliates trees and causes a rash in humans that resembles poison ivy. The hairs of the caterpillars, which have been the subject of an outbreak in the state for about seven years, can also cause respiratory trouble. The growth and spread of the moth is tied to increasingly warm weather, especially in the...

Here’s an interesting Twitter thread from someone named Riho Terras, a member of the European Parliament, posted a few hours ago. Obviously we’re not in any position to vouch for the accuracy of this thread (and some of it seems dubious), but pass it along in the interest of broad coverage: THREAD 1/7 Intel from a Ukrainian officer about a meeting in Putin’s lair in Urals. Oligarchs convened there so no one would flee. Putin is furious, he thought that the whole war would be easy and everything would be done in 1-4 days. Russians didn’t have a tactical plan....

Six Russian government websites including the Kremlin's official site were down for several hours on Friday and inaccessible following reports of cyberattacks on various Russian government and state media. The exact reasons for the outages were not immediately clear, but the international hacking group Anonymous claimed that it was attacking the sites. Some Russian government websites continued to be down on Saturday, as the country's invasion of Ukraine entered its third day. The websites that are dark notably include the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defense.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Friday said at a televised news conference that his country would send soldiers to assist Ukraine in its defense against Russia, CNN reported. According to Costa, Russia's war on Ukraine "is a war against the freedom of self-determination of a democratic country and therefore it is also a war against the freedom of self-determination and against democracy." He added that there is "an unanimity of all states, in view of the need to strengthen the NATO presence on the borders of Ukraine and in all the alliance countries that are close to the Ukraine...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rallied his people, but in a worrying sign for Ukraine, video from Russia’s Western border with Ukraine showed TOS-1 heavy flamethrower tanks moving towards its neighbour. The tanks are capable of firing high-power thermobaric weapons – dubbed the ‘father of all bombs’. This is right up there with “remember the Alamo” legend that created the state of Texas, and the “let’s roll!” uttered by Todd Beamer on doomed airliner Flight 93 on 9/11, as civilians decided to give their lives fighting Islamic terrorists. Yesterday, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, responding to a United States offer to be airlifted...

The #WARINUKRAINE and the unbending spirit of the #UkrainianArmy. A Ukrainian 🇺🇦 warrior with #NLAW confidently walks across the battlefield where shots are heard and #Russian tanks are burning. His comrade-in-arms jokes hilariously off-screen.

World leaders have decided to cut off Russian financial institutions from using the SWIFT money transfer system as part of ongoing sanctions against Russian aggression in Ukraine. The decision comes after a sweeping list of other sanctions against Russia, including the freezing of assets and the closure of airspace to Russian flights. It was delayed due to some world leaders considering the step to be too drastic at the time. US President Joe Biden has stated that the sanctions imposed on Russia are among "the most severe in history." The Russian stock market and currency have taken severe losses since...

Flight 20 was a success! ✅ In its 130.3 seconds of flight, the #MarsHelicopter covered 391 meters at a speed of 4.4 meters per second, bringing it closer to @NASAPersevere's landing location.

As Russia wages war against Ukraine, the debate over how to respond has grown increasingly disconnected from the reality of American power in a world of great-power competition. The political landscape has evolved from the post-Cold War era, when a bipartisan coalition of Washington elites could readily call for the projection of American power in faraway conflicts, especially in Europe, even if the connection to U.S. interests was attenuated. After 20 years of counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan, Americans are understandably weary of foreign entanglements. Further, there is a growing consensus that China’s emergence as the foremost strategic competitor to...

The Minister for Healthcare, Willum Thor Thorsson, said that with the current level of infections, continued restrictions are useless. “Restrictions do not have any effect at this point in time,” he said. The Health Ministry also said the way to end the pandemic is herd immunity through infections, and it wants “as many people as possible” to be infected to achieve “widespread societal resistance”. Vaccines will not provide the necessary immunity.